Home Health

Brown County Hospital Home Health provides home health care services to the Brown, Rock, Keya Paha, Blaire, eastern Cherry, and western Holt counties.

Brown County Hospital Home Health is Medicare and Medicaid certified and is a member of the Nebraska Association of Home and Community Health Agencies.

Understanding Home Health Care

Deciding on home care may seem like an overwhelming task. Important decisions about home health care are often needed when you are recovering from an illness, wound, surgery, stroke or other disabling event.

Home health care is provided when you have a medical need for skilled nursing care and other services, like physical therapy, occupational therapy, and speech-language therapy. Home Health care is provided by a variety of skilled health care professionals at home. Most home health care is temporary and part-time. Home health care may help patients reach and maintain their best physical, mental and social well being.

Home health staff provides the care ordered by a doctor. They may also teach you (and those who help you) how to continue the care needed, such as wound care and managing medication.

Medicare will help cover home health care costs for beneficiaries who meet the following four conditions:

Your doctor must decide that you need medical care at home, and make a plan for your care at home.

You must need at least one of the following: intermittent skilled nursing care, or physical therapy, or speech-language therapy or need occupational therapy along with one of the other services.

You must be homebound. This means that you are normally unable to leave home unassisted. Being homebound means that leaving home is a major effort.

The home health agency caring for you must be approved by the Medicare program.

Medicare does not pay for:

24 hour a day care at home

Prescription drugs (with a few exceptions)

Meals at home

Homemaker services like cleaning, laundry and shopping.

Personal care given by home health aides, like bathing, using the toilet or help in getting dressed when this is the only care you need.

Other payers such as Medicaid, VA and private insurance may also cover the cost of home health care and have different coverage criteria.